The relation between normal personality dimensions and indicators of psychopathology was investigated in two samples. Using data from a nationally representative sample followed over 10 years (NHEFS), measures of depression and neuroticism were examined as predictors of psychiatric diagnoses derived from hospitalization records. Proportional hazards analyses showed that depressive symptoms predicted diagnoses of non-depressive disorders as well as depressive disorders, and late as well as early occurrence of the disorder. Both measures of depression showed a pattern of increasing risk with increasing scores, even below the clinical cut-off point. Findings were interpreted to mean that the normal personality dimension of neuroticism predisposes individuals to a wide range of psychiatric problems. In the second study, a measure of normal personality was correlated with two standard measures of psychopathology in two volunteer samples (BLSA and BLSA peers).Correlations suggested that many psychiatric conditions can be described in terms of the five basic dimensions of normal personality, but that personality measures give a broader characterization of the individual than do measures of psychopathology. Efforts to relate basic research on personality to applications in clinical psychology and studies of the relation of personality to physical health will continue.